Wouldn't it be nice if all those hours kids spent glued to their PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo DS video games actually resulted in something tangible? Better grades, perhaps? Improved concentration? Superior driving skills? Over the past decade, many studies and news media reports have suggested that action video games such as Medal of Honor or Unreal Tournament improve a variety of perceptual and cognitive abilities. But in a paper published this week in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, Walter Boot, an assistant professor in Florida State University's Department ...

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that children covered by Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) were less likely to be seen by specialists than their wealthier peers. Researchers prepared two scripts for participants to use when they called 546 specialist clinics in Cook County, Illinois, home to Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. In one script, the callers, posing as mothers of sick children, reported symptoms of depression. In the other script, the callers described symptoms of type one diabetes. Although neither ...

People facing mounting debt have a few options for managing their debt, including debt consolidation and filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Under Wisconsin law, debtors that reside in Wisconsin have an additional option: Chapter 128 debt amortization. Chapter 128 is not bankruptcy; but it is similar to Chapter 13 bankruptcy in many ways. Chapter 128 allows debtors to consolidate their debts and pay them off over a three-year repayment period. Through Chapter 128, debtors are able to consolidate debts like medical bills, credit card bills, and missed rent ...

When Arctic ground squirrels are getting ready to hibernate they don't just get fat – they pack on muscle at a rate that would make a bodybuilder jealous. And they do it without suffering the harmful effects that high levels of testosterone and other anabolic steroids usually cause. University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) researchers have started to untangle how the squirrels manage it, and their results could someday have implications for human health. Arctic ground squirrels, it turns out, ramp up their anabolic steroid levels and keep them high not just during the ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A new "subconscious mode" for smartphones and other WiFi-enabled mobile devices could extend battery life by as much as 54 percent for users on the busiest networks. University of Michigan computer science and engineering professor Kang Shin and doctoral student Xinyu Zhang will present their new power management approach Sept. 21 at the ACM International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking in Las Vegas. The approach is still in the proof-of-concept stage and is not yet commercially available. Even when smartphones are in power-saving ...

No fault divorces are becoming increasingly common in Georgia. Traditionally, a party seeking a divorce would have to establish some type of fault recognized by statute in order for a court to grant a divorce. Fault may also be considered in the distribution of property as well as in child custody awards. Under Georgia law, there are 12 fault-based grounds upon which spouses may seek a divorce, including: - Marriage based on relationships prohibited by law - Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage - Impotency at the time of the marriage - Force, duress or fraud ...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti-- Haiti and the global community should work together to build a robust science sector that can help the nation recover from last year's deadly earthquake, support future development, and improve the lives of Haiti's people, says a new AAAS report by Haitian and international scientists and educators. The report, Science for Haiti, offers a set of strategic goals for increasing science capacity and urges collaboration between Haitian scientists, the international science community, donor and aid organizations, and other partners to achieve them. ...

TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2011) – For patients with ovarian cancer and their physicians, resistance to chemotherapy is a serious concern. However, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have identified a molecular pathway that may play a key role in the evolution of chemotherapy resistance. They are hopeful that the discovery may lead to therapies that are tailored to individual patients with ovarian cancer; reversing resistance to chemotherapy and improving survival from the disease. "Few clinical or biologic events affect survival for patients with ovarian cancer more than ...

Many people struggling financially in the difficult U.S. economy are wondering if filing for bankruptcy is the right option to correct their financial situations. Those hesitant to take such a step for fear of what it could do to their future financial security may want to explore bankruptcy alternatives. One option gaining popularity is petitioning for Chapter 128 protection. In Milwaukee County alone, the number of Chapter 128 petitions doubled from 2008 to 2009 and tripled from 2009 to 2010, according to state court records. How Chapter 128 Works A debtor filing ...

Toronto—Scientists have found a control switch that regulates stem cell "pluripotency," the capacity of stem cells to develop into any type of cell in the human body. The discovery reveals that pluripotency is regulated by a single event in a process called alternative splicing. Alternative splicing allows one gene to generate many different genetic messages and protein products. The researchers found that in genetic messages of a gene called FOXP1, the switch was active in embryonic stem cells but silent in "adult" cells—those that had become the specialized cells that ...

Contact: Peter Tarr tarr@cshl.edu 516-367-8455 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Robert Perkins perkinsr@usc.edu 213-740-9226 University of Southern California Study suggests methylation and gene sequence co-evolve in human-chimp evolutionary divergence High-resolution comparison of methylation ‘bookmarks’ across species and individuals Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the University of Southern California (USC) today published the first quantitative evidence supporting the notion that the genome-wide "bookmarking" ...

Of the many generalizations attached to baby boomers, one piece of common wisdom has been that they stand to inherit a great deal of wealth from their Greatest Generation parents. The onslaught of bad news that accompanied the Great Recession and other factors has tempered that outlook, and the estate planning implications of this development are worth noting. A recent report from Boston College's Center for Retirement Research, "How Important Are Inheritances for Baby Boomers?", examined the aggregate amount of this intergenerational transfer of wealth in ...

UCLA researchers have found that the hormone estrogen may help reverse advanced pulmonary hypertension, a rare and serious condition that affects 2 to 3 million individuals in the U.S., mostly women, and can lead to heart failure. The condition causes a progressive increase in blood pressure in the main pulmonary artery, which originates in the heart's right ventricle and delivers blood to the lungs. The rise in pressure impairs heart function by enlarging the right ventricle, potentially leading to heart failure. Published in the Sept. 15 issue of the American ...

The Ohio criminal justice system is notoriously tough on defendants charged with domestic violence crimes. The following provides an explanation of some of the basic issues you may encounter if you have been charged with domestic violence in Ohio. Sentence Enhancements for Domestic Violence Convictions The Ohio criminal code includes several provisions that can increase the penalty for a conviction of domestic violence when certain conditions are met. These are known as sentence enhancements. Sentence enhancements may be triggered by the circumstance of the offense ...

While the 2012 legislative session is five months away, lawmakers may consider changes to how consumers may pursue personal injury protection claims through their insurers. Better known as "PIP coverage", personal injury protection is essentially no-fault insurance that pays for policyholders' medical bills if they are injured in an auto accident. No fault insurance is essentially a trade off of benefits. For the right to have economic damages paid for regardless of fault, drivers are limited in pursuing non-economic damages. PIP coverage applies to children, ...

A study published in the October issue of the Journal of Labor Economics suggests an unexpected consequence of the housing bust: lower college attendance. The study, by Cornell economist Michael Lovenheim, finds evidence that when home values soared in the late 1990s and early 2000's, many families borrowed against that new equity to send kids to college, boosting overall college attendance nationwide. Now that the boom is over and families have less equity in their homes, it could mean fewer students heading to college, especially kids from middle and lower income households. To ...

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a previously unknown fail-safe (compensatory) pathway that potentially protects the brain and other organs from genetic and environmental threats. The discovery could provide new ways to diminish the negative consequences of genetic mutations and environmental toxins that cause neurological diseases and other maladies. The findings are published in the Sept. 16 issue of the journal Molecular Cell. Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is an essential molecule that "reads" genetic information ...

Most people work under "at-will" terms of employment, meaning that either they or their employers may terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason. However, the law does not allow an employer to fire an employee for discriminatory reasons which violate the state and federal rights of its workers, even if the employment relationship is at-will. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) data revealed that employment discrimination claims reached record heights for 2010. Analysts suggest that there are several explanations for the rise ...

The phrase "no guts, no glory" doesn't just apply to athletes who are striving to excel. Salmon and other fish predators take the adage literally, by having up to three times the "gut" capacity they need on a daily basis just so they can "glory" when prey is abundant, University of Washington researchers have discovered. It's a previously unrecognized survival tactic that might apply to other top predators, such as wolves, lions and bears, according to Jonathan Armstrong, a UW doctoral student in aquatic and fishery sciences and lead author of a letter published recently ...

U.S. immigration officials recently announced an important change to deportation enforcement that potentially affects tens of thousands of immigrant families. Some commentators are calling this development the functional equivalent of passage of the DREAM Act, which Congress has repeatedly failed to enact. The Obama administration's new policy will suspend deportation proceedings if the individual poses no threat to public safety or national security. Immigration agencies will have prosecutorial discretion to devote resources to cases involving individuals with criminal ...

Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Brussels has announced all Business Class rooms at the hotel have been recently renovated into the stylish and vibrant ambience of New York. Guests staying in a Business Class room benefit from added values and amenities such as a Nespresso coffee machine in the room, free access to the Royal Fitness Club and the Business Class Lounge of the hotel. To top that off, the signature "Super Breakfast Buffet" is always included in the room rate. Furthermore the brand new Business Class rooms offer a first class service with the highest ...

The blanket of sea ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean appears to have reached its lowest extent for 2011, the second lowest recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to the University of Colorado Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center. The Arctic sea ice extent fell to 1.67 million square miles, or 4.33 million square kilometers on Sept. 9, 2011. This year's minimum of 1.67 million square miles is more than 1 million square miles below the 1979-2000 monthly average extent for September -- an area larger than Texas and California combined. While ...

Eurostar, the high-speed passenger service linking London and mainland Europe, has announced that it has begun the search for a roster of agencies to provide creative and advertising services across its core markets of the UK, France and Belgium. The ultimately successful agency or group of agencies may also assume responsibility for Eurostar's international and emerging markets. The pitch process is a consequence of Eurostar's strategic decision to introduce a more consistent brand personality across all of its different markets as the business prepares for the advent ...

Park Inn by Radisson Al Khobar was recently awarded the 'Best Mid-market Hotel in Saudi Arabia' at the first ever Saudi Excellence in Tourism Awards. The awards are held under the patronage of HRH Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, the president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The Park Inn hotel in Al Khobar fought off tough competition from 16 other nominees in its category to receive the top honour. The nominees for each category were decided by the public through an online vote before a panel of eight leading national and international experts ...

When lung cancer strikes, it often spreads silently into more advanced stages before being detected. In a new article published in Nature Nanotechnology, biological engineers and medical scientists at the University of Missouri reveal how their discovery could provide a much earlier warning signal. "Early detection can save lives, but there is currently no proven screening test available for lung cancer," said Michael Wang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at MU and a corresponding author for the article. "We've developed highly sensitive ...